This disclosure relates to the necessary periodic rebuilding of bowling lanes following normal wear and usage. Because the upper surfaces of a bowling alley are subjected to continuous wear by persons using the alley and the relatively heavy balls and pins which move along these surfaces, it is conventional to resurface the lanes in a periodic maintenance schedule. This normally involves planing or sanding of the lane surfaces. Since a conventional bowling alley is constructed on-site, using tongue and groove boards secured to one another by nails, a lane can be planed or sanded only to a predetermined minimum thickness measured from the underside of the lane to its planar upper surface. This predetermined minimum thickness is normally that thickness at which the nails or fasteners connecting the boards to one another become exposed. After a bowling lane reaches such a condition where metal elements are exposed, it is conventional to rebuild the lane by removing the original boards and replacing them with a substitute board structure of the same fabrication. This involves substantial expense and results in a prolonged period during which the lane is not available for use.
Prior patents relating to bowling lanes have been directed to this general problem. As an example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,039,580 to Borders disclosed a bowling alley having a removable approach portion in the form of a laminated platform which could be shimmed from time to time as its upper surface is planed. In the described embodiment, the platform was held in place by ordinary wood screws covered by a wood plug.
The patents to Grawey, U.S. Pat. No. 2,788,983 and Green, U.S. Pat. No. 3,014,722 each disclose sectional bowling alleys of full thickness, whereby worn sections can be totally replaced when necessary.
The patent to DeVore, U.S. Pat. No. 2,969,973 relates to bowling lane construction and rebuilding of a lane of conventional construction. Rebuilding is accomplished by the use of panels one-half the lane width, clamped to the lane surface and secured by adhesives. The panels are fabricated on-site.
According to this disclosure, a series of full width prefabricated laminated panels are designed to match the wood arrangement on a conventional bowling lane. The panels have a width equal to the width of a bowling lane. Their combined total length is equal to the length of the lane. The lane can be readily rebuilt by overlaying a series of panels along the entire lane surface and securing the panels to the lane surface by an adhesive. Pressure is applied during the curing of the adhesive by temporary metal bolts, which are subsequently removed and replaced by wooden bolts. The wooden bolts are arranged around the periphery of each panel and are held in place by adhesives. Their enlarged heads are subsequently removed and sanded flush with the upper panel surfaces to complete the rebuilding of the lane. In this way, a worn lane can be completely resurfaced to match its original condition without removing or altering the existing lane structure in any way. The resulting lane will have the conventional original total thickness of wood. Because the panels are prefabricated, they can be installed in a minimum amount of time and with a minimum amount of on-site labor. The total cost envisioned in rebuilding a bowling lane in this manner is substantially less than is required to completely rebuild the lane by substituting a total new wood structure of conventional design.